Sri Lanka Tiger Rebels Expel Renegade Leader

By Lindsay Beck

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers expelled a renegade leader Saturday, but said their command structure was in place and the internal crisis would not threaten the island's two-year-old peace process.

But there is still no sign the split will be resolved quickly and peacefully, which would make it difficult to restart talks between the government and rebels, who waged a separatist war for 20 years until signing a truce two years ago.

The cease-fire has held but the crisis in the rebel leadership further complicates peace efforts stalled by a row between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that has led to a snap election on April 2.

"Karuna has been discharged from the liberation organization and relieved of his duties," said Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan, who added the rebels were still committed to the cease-fire.

The split complicates an already fragile peace process that is stalled over the political fight in the government, which the Tigers say shows the majority Sinhalese are not serious about negotiating peace.

"He was acting as a traitor to the Tamil people," Thamilselvan said of V. Karuna, the Tiger leader in eastern Sri Lanka who split from the rebels this week and demanded that the government sign a separate cease-fire with him.

Thamilselvan was flanked at a news conference in the rebel headquarters in northern Sri Lanka by Ramesh, Karuna's deputy who was appointed as his replacement, and other leaders from the rebel command in the east.

They were dressed in military uniforms with a yellow and orange Tamil Eelam flag on the table in front of them.

"We ensure the peace process will not be disrupted by an action taken by an individual. The leadership is clear in its commitment to continue with the cease-fire and the peace process and talks that may resume at anytime," Thamilselvan said.

There was no word on what would happen to Karuna, the military name for V. Muralitharan, or whether he would resist attempts to remove him.

The Tigers have a strict code of loyalty and previous challengers to LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran have been assassinated.

Karuna has differed with Prabhakaran in the past, but was one of the negotiators in peace talks that stalled last April.

"The command structure and cadres under Karuna have remained loyal to Mr. Prabhakaran," Thamilselvan said, adding Karuna's decision to strike out on his own "was a personal matter."

Analysts speculated Karuna was upset over recent killings of Tamil politicians in the east who were opposed to the Tigers, allegedly ordered by a rebel intelligence unit in the north.

Others said Karuna was unhappy because he had no say in the list of candidates in the east for the Tamil National Alliance, a party the Tigers endorsed in the elections.

"We will consult further with the leadership and decide on what action to take," Thamilselvan said when asked what would happen if Karuna resisted efforts to remove him.

It is not known what sort of forces are still loyal to Karuna. About 6,000 cadres -- one-third of the total -- had been under his command.

His demands for a separate cease-fire have already been met with confusion in Colombo as renegotiating the truce agreement would be difficult.

It was signed between Prabhakaran and the Norwegian government -- which is brokering the peace effort -- and Wickremesinghe and the Norwegians, and any changes require "the mutual agreement of both parties."